Marking gun employing endless belt printing means



Juy 21, 1970 H, PRICE ETAL 3,521,555

MARKING GUN EMPLOYING ENDLESS BELT PRINTING MEANS Filed July 31, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. Holm/Pp fof/af BY S4-M SZ/My/ July 21, 1970 H. PRICE ETAL 3,521,555

MARKING GUNEMPLOYING ENDLESS BELT PRINTING MEANS Filed July 51, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'A j ,j

J'/ I I l l 5/ lill- L; Il f Wfl /f l' /4 |122 INVENTORS ATTORNEY` United States Patent O 3,521,555 MARKING GUN EMPLOYING ENDLESS BELT PRINTING MEANS Howard Price, Whitestone, and Bela Szilagyi, Flushing, N Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to International Patent & Development Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed July 31, 1968, Ser. No. 749,211 Int. Cl. B41j1/36, I/`]0, 27/00 U.S. Cl. 101-103 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Hand operated marking device with settable indicia for stamping preset indicia on articles to be marked. A finger operated trigger provides the stamping pressure without the necessity of pressing the device on the article to be marked.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY The invention consists in such novel features, construction, arrangements, combination of parts and improvements as may be shown and described in connection with the device herein disclosed by way of example only and as illustrative of a preferred embodiment. The inventive idea of the device therein disclosed is to create a novel marking device, which is light weight, is handy to operate with one or two fingers and which permits stamping without applying any substantial force to the articles t be marked. The latter feature is of particular importance, when articles to be marked have a low resistance against impact or pressure. Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereafter and in part Will be obvious herefrom or may be learned by practicing the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claim.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved marking device in which the marking indicia can be conveniently and easily adjusted.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide for an operating mechanism in a marking device, which permits the application of a variable stamping force.

A further object of the present invention is to provide in a marking device a mechanism for performing the indicia stamping operation by a finger-operated trigger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a light-weight compact marking device in which the inked indicia are protected when the device is in the inoperative position.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a marking device, which is simple, relatively inexpensive, and which can be economically manufactured.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specifi- 3,521,555 Patented July 21, 1970 ICC cation and illustrates merely by way of example an embodiment of the device of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the following description and in the claim, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing, in which:

FIG. l isa side view of the marking device;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the marking device, taken along the lines 2-2 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section of the marking device, taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of the marking device, taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2 with the lid of the device removed;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the marking device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in more detail to the drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment by which the invention may be realized, there is in FIG. 1 a side view of the hand-operated price marking device 10 having a housing 11 which is covered by a lid 12, preferably made of a transparent material. Housing 11 has a pistol grip 13. A slidable carriage 15 which has two shaft-like cross bars 16, 16' is arranged in housing 11. Cross bars 16, 16' extend through elongated slots 17, 17 in housing 11 and are slidingly guided therein. A shaft 18 with a plurality of free-wheeling rollers 19 (in the drawing five are shown) is mounted near the rear end of frame 15. A at cross brace 20 is mounted at the front end of carriage 15. Corresponding to the number of rollers 19 endless bands 21 made of any suitable flexible material are lengthwise wrapped in sideby-side relationship around rollers 19 and over cross brace 20 in such manner that they may be rotatably moved. Stamping indicia 22 are carried on bands 21, and small knobs 23` are arranged on each one of bands 21 to move the latter. The upper plate of housing 11 has a corresponding number of longitudinal slots 24 through which knobs 23 protrude. Alongside of slots 24 are the stamping indicia 22 corresponding to those 22 on bands 21, so the selected 'indicia may be in the proper place on the face of brace 20 in order to stamp the said indicia on an article. A shaft 25 is arranged in housing 11, on which a trigger lever 26 is pivotally mounted. One arm 27, of lever 26 engages rear end bar 16 whereas the other arm, 28 of lever 26 extends through a center slot 29 in pistol grip 13. When arm 28 of lever 26 is pulled by a linger of the operator, frame 15 is moved forward so that stamping indicia 22 will protrude over the opening 30 in the front end of housing 11 to put indicia 22 in the stamping position. Spring means such as the two coil springs 31 are attached to carriage 15 with one end 31a, whereas their other ends 31b are anchored to housing 11. Springs 31 serve to retract frame 13 lback into housing 11 after the finger pressure on lever arm 28 is released. An inkng pad 32 is swingably located on a shaft 33 near the front of frame 13. Slotted arms 34, one on each side of carriage 15 are secured to pad 32. The slots 35 in the arms 34 engage corresponding pins 36 on carriage 15. Pad 32 has its resting position against indicia 22, thus keeping the latter inked at all times, ready for stamping. Shaft 33l is hollow and a small hollow needle 37 extends therefrom on one side of housing 11 into a replaceable ink cartridge 38 located behind the hinged cover 14 to facilitate replacement.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a certain preferred example which gives satisfactory results, it will be understood by those skilled v in the art after understanding the principle of the inven. tion, that various changes and modiications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A hand operated marker comprising an elongated housing having a pistol-shaped hand grip, guiding means longitudinally disposed in said housin-g and comprising a pair of elongated front slots and a pair of elongated rear slots, said rear slots ibeing at the end of said housing adjacent to said hand grip, a carriage longitudinally movable on said guiding means in said housing, a rear bar member on said carriage and extending transversely of said carriage, said rear bar member being slidable within said elongated rear slots, a front bar member on said carriage and slidable within said elongated front slots, said bar members, and slots lguiding said carriage in longitudinal motion within said housing, a plurality of ilexible bands adjustably disposed on said carriage in side-byside relationship, said bands carrying indicia for printing, and pivotally mounted trigger-shaped lever means rotatable about a xed axle member between said rear slots and said hand grip, one end of said lever engaging said bar member on said rear end of said carriage adjacent to said hand grip and moving said carriage longitudinally into an operative forward position when the end onf said lever is moved towards said hand grip, said lever being operable by a finger of a person holding said hand grip in one hand for moving said carriage to forward operative position with sufficient pressure to mark a surface fully with said indicia said finger operated lever means providing the entire mechanical energy for moving said carriage.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,210,071 12/1916 Hoffman lOl-90 1,724,074 8/1929 Du Belle lOl-327 X 2,014,727 9/1935 Flood lOl-90 2,950,676 8/1960 Weissman et al 101-334 3,033,112 5/1962 Cleveland et al lOl-334 3,241,482 3/1966 Keck 101-103 3,251,299 5/1966 Duke et al 101-334 3,327,623 6/1967 Diegel 101--111 X 3,380,378 4/1968 Edwards et al 101-1 11 WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner 

